Stand-up paddleboarders dressed as witches and warlocks will descend on Chatfield Reservoir near Littleton on Saturday for a costumed paddle that sold out back in June and now has a waitlist topping 250 people. The gathering runs from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is one of several similar events popping up on Colorado lakes this month as paddlers try to squeeze one more festive outing out of the season before the water turns too cold to enjoy.
The Chatfield Witch Paddle began in 2021 and has grown into a crowd-drawing tradition, according to The Denver Post. Spectators can watch for free but need a Colorado State Parks vehicle pass to get in, which costs $10 for a day or $29 for an annual Keep Colorado Wild Pass obtained through vehicle registration, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. This year's event is expected to include a vendor village, a costume contest and magic performances, per the same report.
Not every Colorado lake is getting in on the fun this year. Lake Dillon had water levels too low to schedule a witch paddle in 2026, according to a past-year organizer cited by the paper. Elsewhere in the state, Pagosa Springs will host its own Witches on the Water Paddle on Oct. 31.
A Grassroots Movement Spreads Beyond Chatfield
Not everyone wants to wait for an organized event with permits and insurance. Bliss Coleman, a founder of the Colorado SUP/ISUP Meet Up Facebook group — which has more than 5,000 members — declared Saturday, Oct. 17, Colorado Witches Paddle Day and is encouraging people statewide to wear costumes and paddle informally wherever they live.
Coleman told the Post the event is informal and open to everyone in Colorado. She said she considered hosting a similar public gathering after attending the Chatfield paddle several years ago, but found permits and liability insurance too difficult to obtain as a casual enthusiast. Instead, she's inviting Facebook group members to organize their own small witch paddles and has pointed to the group's page as a place where people can find local plans.
Coleman said the costumed paddles help extend the paddleboard season as colder weather sets in. She plans to paddle with friends at Aurora Reservoir dressed in a Spirit Halloween costume and a pointy hat, and she advised that costumes should still allow for safe movement in the water. Her broader advice: find a group and an outing that suits you.
Why Colorado's Witch Paddles Carry Real Risk
The tradition traces back to October 2013, when founder Annette Ausseresses and friends wore witch costumes on paddleboards in Morro Bay, California, to celebrate Halloween-adjacent birthdays — a gathering that went viral after an Associated Press story and spread into a nationwide autumn ritual, according to Outside Magazine. Colorado's high-altitude reservoirs bring their own hazards to that tradition, though, with rapid weather swings and dropping water temperatures that raise the risk of cold water shock and drowning.
Under Colorado Parks and Wildlife rules, paddleboards count as vessels, meaning adult paddlers 13 and older must carry at least one Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device on board, while children under 13 must wear one at all times, according to ColoradoLakes.org. Roughly 90% of water-related fatalities in Colorado occur when victims aren't wearing a flotation device, Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported in March, and officers actively issue $100 citations for noncompliance.
Coleman herself recommended wearing a personal flotation device given the colder water, and suggested a wetsuit for anyone who might end up in the lake. Water safety instructors generally point to the “120 Rule” for fall paddling: if combined air and water temperatures add up to 120°F or less, paddlers should wear a wetsuit or drysuit to guard against sudden cold shock, according to Sleeping Bear Surf & Kayak. National Weather Service data cited by Colorado Outdoors Online found that nearly 20% of people who fall into water below 50°F die within the first minute of immersion due to cold water shock.
The dangers aren't hypothetical for Colorado paddlers. A father drowned at Chatfield Reservoir in July 2025 after a sudden afternoon wind gust knocked him and his two children off a shared paddleboard while he wasn't wearing a life jacket, 9News reported — a tragedy Hoodline covered at the time in its report on the paddleboarder found deceased at the park.
A Nationwide Tradition With Colorado Flavor
Costumed paddles like Chatfield's are part of a much broader national trend this October. Colorado Springs hosted its own Witches & Ghouls Halloween Paddle on Quail Lake on Oct. 3, complete with costume contests and board rentals, according to Visit Colorado Springs. In Rhode Island, the Witches of Wickford Paddle on Oct. 25 will donate all $25 registration fees to the North Kingstown Food Pantry, per The Kayak Centre.
Sleepy Hollow, New York, hosted its own SUP Witches Festival on Oct. 10, drawing nearly 100 costumed paddlers to the Hudson River after growing from a 16-person gathering back in 2020, as Hoodline reported in its coverage of the Hudson River witch festival. Back at Chatfield in 2021, SUP Sisters paddling group member Katiera Edward dressed as a witch for the event, a moment photographed by Helen H. Richardson.
